LOADS OF HURDLES, BUT PCP ON TRACK

Sorry folks. Has been a while since I last posted and I promise loads of updates shortly as this time off posting, has been a combination of hectic and frustrating, but in all the turmoil and introspection I have found loads of thoughts regarding the "PCP path" and have found that PCP has given me much needed balance, discipline and grounding at times when I have had to navigate through quite a few significant life changes.

So what is new?

To start with PCP, really moving ahead nicely and smoothly. Finding the flow and the rhythm and starting to see the changes happening at a faster pace, which is very rewarding and helps strengthen the commitment and dedication to the program.

Visceral fat starting to melt away at a fairly good pace, energy levels are steady during the day, an improved general sense of well-being and the most amazing thing...I am sticking to PCP food with rarely any cravings and despite the low carbs intake I don't feel hunger and my energy levels are very good (maybe because I have stuck closely to "brown carbs" given the steady release of glucose that they provide as Patrick highlights in his most rte cent email?).

But as PCP was feeling a smooth enjoyable ride, there is always that has to come along the way to thwart smooth progress..And guess what? I realised that for a "chilled out zen dude" I am terrible at dealing with frustration.

About 2 weeks ago, as a result of a series of bad falls in aikido practice which bruised a bit part of my back, or maybe as a result of some other sort of strain I cannot point at. I could hardly move when I try to get up in the morning. My whole back was in agony, with pain shooting down all the way to the back of my spine. Still I found the determination to do my morning jumps, yet every landing felt as if all my vertebrae conspired to produce the most amount of pain as they compressed every time my feet touched the floor again.

Just as I was seeing the PCP progress unfold in front of my bathroom mirror, and as I was gloating on with how relative ease this substantial transformation was taking place...BOOM here came this back pain to derail things. Still having the perspective of being in an amazing path of physical and mental transformation and sheer stubbornness to achieve the goals I had set at the beginning of the program helped me carry on.

Despite a good massage session with my physiotherapist, and having to reluctantly give my aikido practice a rest (turning my hips or bending my back produce such pain that even I tried to do one of my usual 2-class sessions, after the end of the first one I had to retire to the showers in agony) my back showed few signs of progress.
Still I resolved to carry on no matter what with my PCP commitment and in order to do so, lay off any other activities or distractions to at least trey to keep with the PCP routine...

Any leg exercise was endless suffering, particularly the pistol squats (which were on e of my favourite exercises until then!), the jumps felt like were going to make things worse given the impact on the back (still silly me decided not to substitute them for any other aerobic exercise as feeling that they burn fat like no other thing I have ever done!), other body parts in turn were a relief. Any isolation (rather than compound exercise) felt like heaven as did not involve any strain in the lower back. V sits were the only thing I did not even dare attempt given the strain in the lower back, so have to admit defeat there (instead I substituted them for regular sit-ups where the pain was bearable)

But hey, I did it. I am now enjoying my egg whites, apple and cinnamon smoothie, after having done my workout and having gone for a swim, after an active day of pool cleaning (getting ready for the summer heat here in Madrid) and brisk walking with my brother who was over visiting for the weekend. So my back now feels 95% fine, I am very energised and full of motivation. Even this Saturday morning had a full really good aikido session so think from Monday onwards I will be back in full force, ready to work even harder and add some mor eactivities on top of PCP.

Ahh and the best thing is (on of those examples of how to find joy and purpose out of distress) now I will be blessed with that rare and precious commodity in the highly developed western world: TIME.

Yes one of the things that was stressing me out and making my injury predicament even worse is that at the same time I was going through a critical decision making process regarding the business that I had set up. I had reached a dead end in terms of agreeing a strategic long term growth plan for the business with my business partners and was caught in a very akward position in the middle negotiations with another hedge fund to merge the business and gain critical mass (something to which my partners ended up not being so keen on). So I took the difficult but honest decision to close the business, leave Spain later in the year after my first child is born, and reclaim so time for myself, my wife and this epractices and little things that give meaning to my life.

I am a man of doing things well or not doing them at all. Given the significant sacrifices that the business entailed, and considering that the conditions that I thought needed to be in place to maximise the chances of success were not being met, the right thing to do was to close that chapter, and start LIVING, something I had forgotten about and of which the recent untimely death fo my friend Andy should be a polite reminder...life cannot be taken for granted.


More frequent posts to follow...now that I am almost pain free and starting to have more time. Just need to put my thoughts on order...

Good PCPing to all of you.

Stay strong!